A Legacy of Giving

You may want to consider your broader legacy when you are planning your estate. There are things that you could do to cast a meaningful shadow even after you are gone, and your impact can be felt in a positive manner on various different levels.

Undoubtedly, your family is going to come first when you are engaged in your legacy planning efforts. It is important to make sure that you pass along monetary resources in the optimal manner, and the best way to provide for one person that you love may not be appropriate for the next. You should explore all of your options and make fully informed decisions.

When it comes to your family, there are also matters that are not financial in nature that you can address in your legacy plan. For example, if you have family heirlooms in your possession, you can make sure that they get into the hands of appropriate caretakers.

These are a handful of things to take into consideration when it comes to your loved ones, but there are other things that you can do to proactively shape your legacy within your family.

Charitable Acts

You may recognize that you are in a position to help people outside of your family when you are developing your legacy plan. Giving to charitable causes and institutions that are important to you can be quite rewarding.

There are various different ways that you can go about it. One possibility would be the creation of a charitable foundation. You may be surprised to hear that the majority of the foundations in the United States are working with budgets that do not exceed $1 million.

If a charitable foundation is not for you for one reason or another, you could potentially create a charitable trust. With a charitable remainder trust, you would receive equity payments throughout your life, and a charitable beneficiary would assume ownership of the remainder.

There are also charitable lead trusts that work in the reverse manner, and these trusts can provide estate tax efficiency if you are faced with exposure. The estate tax can be applicable if the value of your estate exceeds $5.43 million in value.

Our Firm Can Help

We would be glad to answer all of your questions if you would like to learn more about charitable giving and legacy planning. At our consultation meetings, we provide each and every one of our clients with personalized attention.

Timothy P. Murphy is an estate planning and elder law attorney whose practice emphasizes helping people to build, preserve and pass on their wealth. He works with his clients to accomplish their goals while avoiding unnecessary court proceedings and minimizing or eliminating exposure to death taxes.

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